Space Cadet

Man enjoys out-of-this-world hobby

Published: Wednesday, September 08, 1999

LINDA KANEAvalanche-Journal

PORTALES, N.M. Ivan "Skip" Wilson was out in a field scouring for arrowheads more than 30 years ago when he came across an unusual looking rock. He planned to give it to his sister-in-law for her rock garden before taking a second look.

The rock turned out to be a 28-pound meteorite that Wilson sold for $170.

That episode inspired him to give up his searches for arrowheads and turn to something more lucrative. But it was a difficult task.

''I began to hunt very extensively,'' Wilson said. ''I walked many miles in severe heat and wind, and, after several months, became very discouraged.''

He was about to give up when his luck finally changed.

''I started hunting fields where the topsoil eroded away,'' he said. ''I look for arrowheads toward the sun, and with meteorites you have to look away from the sun.''

To date, Wilson has collected 202 meteorites, a feat not many people can brag about. His collection has varied in size from the 28-pounder down to marble-sized, he said.

''It's been really neat because I've made a lot of money out of it, and I've rubbed elbows with astronauts,'' he said. ''If you go out there looking for something, you'll lose. But even if you don't find something, you get some good exercise.''

The going price for a meteorite today varies from $1 to $1,000 per gram, Wilson said. He's been paid up to $17,000 for one rock, he said.

Nearly all his finds have been in the Portales area, he said.

''I've had people from all over the U.S. come here and want me to show them how to hunt meteorites. Of all the people I've shown, one person I think, has gotten results,'' he said. ''Scientists call me up and ask how I do it, how come you can find so many? I tell them it's because of the erosion here.''

Wilson said a good time to look for meteorites is after a sand storm.

''We don't seem to have them as much anymore,'' he said. ''I used to go out a lot more, but I'm getting to where I just can't stand the heat.''

In June 1998, a meteorite practically fell in Wilson's back yard.

''I heard it fall,'' he said. ''There were two sonic booms, then it sounded like a bunch of fire crackers exploded. I saw a corkscrew contrail in the sky.''

Several pieces of the meteorite were found around Portales in the following months. One piece crashed through a barn roof and a 37-pound rock landed in a neighbor's back yard, Wilson said.

Wilson collected six pieces from that fall, he said.

''When you pick that up, you're holding something totally out of this world,'' he said.

Though he hunts meteorites as a hobby, profits from his finds have paid for a couple vacations, Wilson said.

''A lot of people made fun of me at first. They said, 'That Skip, he's crazy for being in the hot sun,' '' he said. ''I kind of got the last laugh I guess.''